Instant scratch-off lottery tickets are being increasingly sold around the world.
Instant scratch-off lottery tickets contain hidden preprinted winning and losing game data which distinguish this form of lottery from the various other forms in which winning numbers are drawn some time after the sale of the ticket (conventional state lottery).
This scratch-off lottery utilizes a ticket, card, or other paper imprinted with indicia such as information relating to certain numbers, symbols, words and the like which indicate whether the bearer has won a prize. Such tickets must obscure the win-indicating information from observation by both the ticket distributor and the ticket purchaser as well until after the ticket has been sold. In this way, neither the ticket distributor nor the purchaser can determine which of a large number of tickets contain the win-indicating information.
After the ticket is purchased, the purchaser removes the material which obscures the information imprinted thereon. Once this coating is removed, the purchaser will know if he holds a winning ticket.
The games of the instant lotteries are generally of five main types:
1--Match three amounts or symbols and win that amount. PA1 2--Match any of your preprinted numbers to another set of preprinted numbers and win a predetermined amount. PA1 3--Bingo-type game PA1 4--Compare your preprinted numbers or playing cards to a preprinted number(s) or playing cards. You win if you get higher numbers, etc. PA1 5--You win if you have a preprinted winning symbol in your card.
All of the above categories of games and all the other currently available instant lottery games have a predetermined number of winning tickets. The tickets that have the winning indicia are sold randomly among the other tickets. The purchaser has no role in making the ticket he buys a winning one, nor has he the choice of entering his lucky numbers as he does in purchasing the conventional lottery ticket.
Players feel more satisfaction if they can choose their own numbers compared to having a ticket with preprinted winning indicia.
The current invention provides the combined advantages of the conventional lottery by allowing the purchaser to enter his chosen number and the advantage of the instant scratch-off lottery tickets by enabling the purchaser to immediately learn if the ticket is a winner or loser.
It is, therefore, a prime object of the current invention to provide a novel type of instant lottery scratch-off game in which any ticket could be a winning one if the player entered the correct numbers printed on that particular ticket.
It is another object of the present invention to provide endless new varieties of games where only the player has a major input and contribution to make the ticket a winning one.
It is another object of this invention to provide the player with prior knowledge of the amount of the prize and the probability of winning for each particular game.
It is another object of the current invention to create more trust and confidence in the lottery agency by letting the player choose his own numbers.
It is another object of the current invention to provide a method for defeating any technique for nondestructive premature reading of the winning number printed on the card by providing a security bar code over-printed on the scratch-off material which covers the boxes which correspond to each number.
The security bar codes will enable the ticket distributor to transfer the information to a central computer of the lottery agency to approve or disapprove the payment of the prizes of the winning tickets.
It is still another objective to allow reading of the information of the ticket rapidly and accurately to determine whether the ticket is valid and whether it is a winning ticket, and also to prevent fraud and counterfeiting.
In view of the above shortcomings of the instant lottery tickets, there is a need in the lottery business for new types of games which combine the advantages of traditional lottery games by allowing players to choose their own numbers and the advantage of the instant scratch-off ticket by allowing immediate learning if the ticket is a winner or loser.